Saturday, May 23, 2015

1964 - Good's Chevy Cops Little 500

Anderson,
Ind. (May 23, 1964) - The largest
crowd in Sun Valley Speedway history, 13,641, saw ever-charging Dick Good
return the driving championship of the “Little 500” national championship sprint
car classic to the Hoosier state when he wheeled the #41 Wood Chevy, owned by
G.E. Wood to first place honors in the 16th renewal of the 500-lap endurance
run here on Saturday night.

Despite the appearance of the yellow flag six different
times, totaling 72 laps, Good toured the 125-mile distance in 2 hours, 13
minutes, and 42.88 seconds as he finished with an eight-lap advantage over the
W.J. W. Chevy from St. Paul,
Minnesota, which was co-driven by
Jerry Richert and Jerry Daniels.

In the best position battle in the race, Richert-Daniels
driving team salvaged second place money by a six-second margin over Shady
McWhorter who was driving his own #72 McWhorter Chevy.

Only two different cars led the race, which was sanctioned
by the International Motor Contest Association and run under the direction of
Al Sweeney and National Speedways, Inc., for the third straight year.

Good set the pace for a grand total of 400 laps, picking up
one block in prize money for each time he went across the finish line first, in
this swelled his earnings to $2,175 for the race.

Al Smith, who put the #0 Bob Trimble Buick in the coveted
pole position, was the only other driver to lead the race. He led for 100 laps,
picked up $500 as fast qualifier for the race and made a grand total of $1,225
for his fourth place finish.

The six separate accidents which brought out the yellow flag
did not bring about injury to any driver although it did for several cars out
of the race.

Even at that, 27 machines were still on the track and
running when Good received the checkered flag.

At the 100-lap mark it was Good, Al Smith, Norman Brown in
the #51 Doug Lang Chevy; Dean Mast, and the #75 W.C. Griffth Chevy, and Claire
Lawicki, at the wheel of the #71 Diz Wilson Chevy, running in that order.

Smith finally caught up with good and passed it right at the
starting line at the end of 154 laps to regain the top spot. His lead didn't
last long, however, as good went back in front entering turn number one on the
163rd lap.

Good was the leader for even shorter. It time as he spun in
the home stretch on the hundred and 163rd turn of the track and Smith once more
became the pacemaker.

At 200 laps it was Smith, Richert, Tommy York, Good and
McWhorter in that order.

Smith went into the pits for fuel and attire change after
completing 241 circuits and good, who passed you work on lap 203 and Richert on
lap 228, became the race leader for the last time. New paragraph after 300 laps
it was good, McWhorter, Richert, Lawicki, York,
Smith, Duckworth, and McCune.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Preserving the history of Midwest Auto Racing

So much racing history has been made through the years right here in the Midwest.

From the rich dirt ovals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska to the paved short tracks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, some of the best drivers ever to get behind the wheel of a race car competed right here in the heartland.

We all have our own story to share about our favorite driver who thrilled us everytime they rolled onto the track or that one particular race that still stands out as the greatest they ever saw.

We'll go back in history, 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago (even more) and reminisce about what has made racing in the Midwest so special for us.